Survey: Nearly 70% of citizens in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region unsatisfied with current air quality

Demand pollution reach acceptable levels by 2020

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Press release - 2013-07-09

Recently, Greenpeace surveyed public satisfaction of air quality in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region. The survey revealed that nearly 70% of local residents are unsatisfied with the current air quality. Meanwhile, 92% of residents want the air quality of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region to reach acceptable standards by 2020.

Greenpeace commissioned an independent third-party agency to conduct a survey of residents located in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan and Handan. The survey asked residents to rate their satisfaction of the local air quality, their expectations regarding the timeline of air quality improvement and awareness of the sources of PM2.5. A total of 1,021 people participated in the survey.

The survey results showed that the highest number of residents unsatisfied with the current air quality is located in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, with 75% of those surveyed electing "unsatisfied". This was followed by Beijing, Handan, Tangshan and Tianjin, with 71%, 64%, 62%, and 57% of those surveyed respectively.

96% of the respondents believe the air pollution is impacting the health of his or her family. 23% called this impact "severe", while 62% said there was "some impact", 11% believed the pollution had a "minor impact" while only 4% said "no impact".

Over 70% of the civilians believe that 2030, the year that the Chinese government has set for cities to meet air quality standards, was too long a time. 92% of the respondents wanted standards to be reached by 2020.

Regarding knowledge of the main source of air pollution in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region, 63% of respondents in Beijing believe the pollution comes from their own city. 74% of the respondents believe that automobile exhaust is the largest source of PM2.5 pollution. However in the three cities of Hebei Province, 75% of respondents believe the air pollution originates from Hebei, with 58% saying industrial coal-fire smokestacks are the largest source of PM2.5.

This survey reveals that the citizens from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region expect an improvement of air quality in the near future. Greenpeace calls for governments in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region to cooperate with these demands by eliminating high energy-consuming and polluting production capacity, reducing coal-related consumption, adjusting the energy structure and enhancing sustainable energy.